The Longhorns, a game away from their second consecutive 20-win season, will hit the court one last time at the Frank Erwin Center to host TCU on Tuesday.

The team, which currently sits at sixth place in the Big 12, is in jeopardy of losing the opportunity for a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

But there’s even more on the line in this game. It’s Senior Night.

But this go-around feels different without senior forward Nneka Enemkpali.

“She affected our whole team because of her leadership qualities,” head coach Karen Aston said. “She was really the mother of the team. That was difficult to lose at the point that we lost it. It was difficult to replace because there really wasn’t another personality as strong as Nneka with the maturity that she had.”

Enemkpali said her torn ACL injury has provided a lesson in overcoming adversity and given her perspective about her time on the court.

“I’m sad that I’m not physically able to play out there,” Enemkpali said. “But I think, looking back on the memories that I had at the Erwin Center, the interactions with the fans and support of my family and teammates — it’s going to be easier for me to take in that journey here is over.”

Senior guard Krystle Henderson will also play for the last time at Texas. Although she played two seasons at Wichita State, she said she will miss the time she spent with her teammates.

“I know I didn’t come here for four years, but it’s definitely been a learning experience for me,” Henderson said. “I’m going to try not to cry, but I’m sure I’ll shed some tears.”

The team will try to bounce back after giving up a 14-point lead in overtime against West Virginia on Sunday.

“Our team has had problems with what I call sticking the knife in and really stepping on someone when you have somewhat some control of the game,” Aston said. “The most disappointing thing was how little we defended in the second half.”

Texas will look to stop a potent TCU offense that ranks third in the conference in scoring, averaging 70 points per game. TCU’s defense produces nearly 10 steals per game.

“For all of the young players, coming off of a tough road trip [with a] short turnaround, you would be looking for some sort of something to probably dig a little deeper with, and I would think that would be a great reason to do that,” Aston said.

The Longhorns lost their pervious matchup against the Horned Frogs last month by 5 points. They look to split the season series at 7 p.m. on the Longhorn Network.

Junior guard Empress Davenport led the Longhorns with 15 points in Texas’ 59-42 victory over Oklahoma State on Wednesday night. The victory takes Texas’ win streak to four games.

With the help of its bench, Texas found its fourth consecutive victory Wednesday night.

The Longhorns tallied a total of 22 points from its bench players and recorded a 39 percent shooting percentage in its 59-42 win over Oklahoma State.

“The last two games, our bench production has been really the difference in the games,” head coach Karen Aston said. “So them coming in and us not losing anything, and in fact gaining with them coming off the bench, has probably been a positive thing for us.”

Junior guard Empress Davenport, who received a standing ovation coming out of the game, led the Longhorns with 15 points, tying her career-high mark. While she started earlier in the year during non-conference play, Davenport learned a lot from her time on the sideline.

“Coming off the bench, you can see things,” Davenport said. “You can see openings like from the sidelines that they can’t really see running the game, so, from the sidelines, coach tells me to guard [players], and that’s what I tried to do.”

Despite Texas’ lack of boxing out and rebounding, the Cowgirls still had trouble on offense. Oklahoma State grabbed 14 offensive boards accounting for 11 second chance points. The Cowgirls out-rebounded the Longhorns 43-39, becoming just the second Texas opponent all season to accomplish that feat.

The Texas defense held Oklahoma State to just 29 percent shooting. Despite Oklahoma State junior guard Brittney Martin and senior center LaShawn Jones combining for 34 points, star senior forward Liz Donohoe struggled throughout the game. Being heckled by the crowd with “airball” chants every time she touched the rock, Donohoe recorded only 2 points Wednesday night.

“[Junior center Imani McGee-Stafford] and [sophomore center] Kelsey [Lang] picked it up a lot in the second half,” Aston said. “I thought all the big guards did a good job of neutralizing Donohoe, who I think has been playing really well for them.”

Wednesday’s victory positions Texas (19–8, 8–8 Big 12) in a tie with Oklahoma State for third place in the Big 12. The Longhorns are now in position to have a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

Aston said the team will shift its focus to its upcoming game against West Virginia on Sunday. When the team returns for senior night Tuesday, seniors Nneka Enemkpali and Krystle Henderson will be back on the court to formally end their careers.

“It should mean something to our fans to show up for [Enemkpali] because it is her final walk on the Erwin Center floor,” Aston said. “[Henderson] has accepted a role and been a big part of our program. These games mean something. We’re not just playing to be playing. I would like for everyone to understand that the crowd makes a big difference for us, and we need the win.”

Freshman guard Ariel Atkins has come up big for the Longhorns in their current three-game win streak. Teaming up with fellow freshman Brooke McCarty, the Longhorns are finding their groove again after a mid-season slump.

Winners of three-straight games, the Longhorns return home to face Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. Wednesday with a new face sporting a jersey on the bench.

Junior guard Emily Johnson, who previously served as a team manager, will be joining the team. However, she will not compete this season, according to head coach Karen Aston.

Johnson will officially join the injury-prone Longhorns next season with two years of eligibility remaining.

The worst loss for the Longhorns came with senior forward Nneka Enemkpali’s season-ending ACL tear in January. She the surgery to repair the ACL last Wednesday.

“I think it’s the first of a two-part surgery,” Aston said. “We’ve acknowledged we want to play the remainder of the season on her behalf.”

After losing six of seven since Enemkpali went down, the Longhorns are finally settling in — on and off the court.

On the court, they have won three in a row. Off the court, Texas leads the conference with eight student-athletes named Thursday to the 2015 Academic All-Big 12 Conference Women’s Basketball Team.

Additionally, the Longhorns are seeing more productivity from the young leaders of the team. Freshmen guards Ariel Atkins and Brooke McCarty continue to deliver strong double-digit performances, proving themselves as key players to Texas’s offense.

Starting the past 10 games for Texas, McCarty was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Freshman of the Week. Both Atkins and McCarty have won the award twice.

Oklahoma State (18–8, 8–7 Big 12) head into Austin with a similar record to the Longhorns (18–8, 7–8 Big 12). In Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the first of the two matchups this year, the Cowgirls escaped 60–66.

The game will air on the Longhorn Network.

Junior guard Brady Sanders led Texas to its second-straight win Wednesday night, as the Longhorns gain confidence with the season winding down.

After a year filled with injuries and adversity, Texas finds itself just three wins away from a 20-win season.

With four games remaining, the Longhorns (17–8, 6–8 Big 12) look to keep its recent momentum rolling against Texas Tech on Saturday in Lubbock.

After defeating Kansas State on Wednesday 76–58, Texas tallied its largest margin of victory since defeating Texas Tech last season. While the Longhorns have now won two back-to-back games, and head coach Karen Aston thinks every remaining game is winnable, the team is just focusing on Texas Tech for now.

“We don’t need to look past [the Texas Tech game] at all,” Aston said. “We just need to take one game at a time and finish as strong as we possibly can.”

After a season-ending injury to senior forward Nneka Enemkpali and after other scattered setbacks, the Longhorns feel a sense of urgency to finish the season on a winning note. Through the past few games, Texas feels it has started to regain control of its season.

“We finally have some positive momentum moving forward,” junior guard Brady Sanders said. “We’ve done a good job taking one practice at a time, one possession of a time and one game at a time. So now, we have to keep this positive energy going into Tech.”

Texas Tech (15–11, 5–9 Big 12) is coming off a 67–60 defeat by No. 3 Baylor on Wednesday. The Lady Raiders, who made a season-high of 11 three-pointers off 20 attempts, rank third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage, shooting at 35 percent this season.

Texas Tech is the sixth opponent to hold the Lady Bears to a single-digit victory this season. Tech ranks fifth in the conference in scoring defense, with opponents tallying an average of 59.1 points per game.

Texas will look to contain Tech senior guard Amber Battle, who leads the team with 16 points per game, while freshman forward Dayo Olabode averages a team-leading 6.2 boards per game.

Aston said the Longhorns feel they have started to hit a stride in their season.

“We are shooting the ball better and have better timing offensively,” Aston said. “We just look more comfortable with what we are doing. The tempo seems to have picked up for us just a little bit.”

Junior guard Brady Sanders drives past a Kansas State defender. Sanders had a career night in which she scored 18 points and made four 3-pointers

The Longhorns (17–8, 6–8 Big 12) won their second consecutive game Wednesday night as they beat Kansas State (15–10, 5–9 Big 12), 76–58, thanks to a career night from junior guard Brady Sanders and a strong team shooting performance.

Sanders’ 18 points and four 3-pointers were both career highs, and Texas collectively found its pace by not rushing shots and playing better defense.

“I thought Brady got us off to a terrific start and really calmed our team,” Texas head coach Karen Aston said. “Then we settled in and played a nice game.”

Wednesday marked the first time Texas has won consecutive games since emerging victorious in its first two conference games.

“There were a lot of great decisions made,” Aston said. “Basically, I thought everyone who went into the game contributed something, so, overall, it was a really good team performance.”

The Kansas State 2-3 defense forced errant shots from Texas, as the Longhorns missed their first seven field goals. But the buckets started to fall when Sanders hit the team’s first shot.

“Really my only focus was getting the win,” Sanders said. “And it just so happened that my shots fell tonight, and my teammates put me in a good position to score.”

Freshman guard Ariel Atkins notched her fifth conference game in double figures with 11 points Wednesday. Atkins said the way Sanders played tonight gave the whole team a boost.

“When she’s out there smiling and laughing on the court, it gives us the confidence to be like, ‘Oh, okay, she’s having a good time, so we can too,’” Atkins said.

With injuries striking the team hard, Aston said the Longhorns continued to find ways to fit into unfamiliar roles.

“Their roles changed so much,” Aston said. “But I do think we’ve had some constancy with what we’re asking each person to do, so I think that gives them some comfort … and allowed them to settle in. I think they’re having some fun now, which is good to see.”

Sophomore center Kelsey Lang, who didn’t score her first point until early in the second half, ended the game with 9 points and four boards, while junior center Imani McGee-Stafford had 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Texas won the turnover battle against a Kansas State team that ranks second in the conference with 9.1 steals per game. The Longhorns caused 19 turnovers, eight of which were steals.

Texas sits three games away from a 20-win season, one of the early goals for the team, according to Aston. With four regular season games remaining, the Longhorns look to continue their winning streak with a game against Texas Tech on Saturday.

“I do think that [the team] is confident, but it’s one game at a time,” Aston said. “We worried about tonight, and tomorrow we’ll wake up and start figuring out how to win in Lubbock. We don’t need to look past that at all.”

With a slew of absences on the court, head coach Karen Aston has been forced to switch things up.

Freshman guards Brooke McCarty and Ariel Atkins have been thrust into starting roles. Even freshman forward Diani Akigbogun, who hadn’t seen the court since last semester, played in the latest game.

Despite the pressure put on the two freshman guards to be major contributors, they give the Longhorns a big boost.

Atkins is averaging 11.4 points per game over the last five, while playing more than 30 minutes a game. McCarty was just named Big 12 Freshman of the Week after averaging 13.5 points and 3.5 assists during the past week.

“You could tell [McCarty] was really in control of the she moved her body,” Aston said.

Atkins and McCarty have started the past seven games and hope to build on their first conference road win where the Longhorns went up to Kansas to get. While in Lawrence, Kansas, the Longhorns also scored their most points since Jan. 19.

“[McCarty] played an energetic game and we need more of that,” Aston said after the last game. “She wasn’t afraid to take the shots.”

Falling in their first six road conference games, the Longhorns (16–8, 5–8 Big 12) finally broke through at Kansas with a 74–63 victory to end the road skid as well as a four-game losing streak. Four players scored in the double digits, including McCarty and Atkins.

“I thought we had so many players step up,” Aston said after the win Saturday night against the Jayhawks.

The Longhorns look to carry that momentum and start a winning streak of their own when they host Kansas State at the Frank Erwin Center at 7 p.m.

Kansas State (15–9, 5–8 Big 12) has other ideas, though, as it is searching for its first season sweep against Texas since 2012. In the first matchup between the two, Kansas State rallied from a halftime deficit to win by 9 points. During the game, sophomore forward Nekia Jones went down with a left knee injury that has her out indefinitely.

However, this time around, Kansas State will be on Texas’ court, giving the Longhorns a distinct advantage. In the Frank Erwin Center, dating back to last year, Texas is 26–4 and holds a +18.4 scoring margin.

Trying to take advantage of Texas’ young backcourt, Kansas State will pressure the Texas guards and try to force them into mistakes. Kansas State currently has a Big 12-leading 275 steals this season. Turnovers haven’t been Texas’ problem this season, though, as it is averaging its lowest amount of turnovers per game (16.2) in the last five seasons.

The Wildcats head into Austin fresh off an overtime loss to Texas Tech on Sunday.

Boasting four Longhorns with double-digit figures, Texas collected its first conference road victory against Kansas, 74–63, on Saturday.

Texas played calmly in the first half, and its defense locked down early, holding the Jayhawks to 28 percent shooting. Freshman guard Ariel Atkins scored 15 points in the first half — more than half of Texas’ points in the period — but the Longhorns’ abysmal shooting and 10 turnovers gave them only a 1-point lead at halftime.

Texas improved its perimeter shooting from 33 percent in the first 20 minutes to 67 percent in the second half. Although Kansas shaved the deficit to 3 points midway through the second half, Texas showed resilience and continued to stay aggressive. Drawing fouls often, the Longhorns attempted 30 free throws and shot 73 percent from the charity stripe.

“They never got frustrated when Kansas made a run,” head coach Karen Aston said. “They didn’t get frustrated when they made mistakes. They stayed very calm, and I thought we executed some things really well.”

The Longhorns (16–8, 5–8 Big 12) received contributions from all their healthy players, including bench players, in the full-team effort. Sophomore guard Brianna Taylor, who started the game, scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half, while junior center Imani McGee-Stafford came off the bench to record her third double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

“Imani had some great minutes off the bench, and Taylor was really solid,” Aston said. “I thought Ariel did a great job of playing the game. Our guards made better decisions off the [Kansas] zone [defense].”

Texas dominated the Jayhawks on the boards, outrebounding them, 50–27, including 18 offensive rebounds, which led to 17 second-chance points. Texas is now 15–2 when it scores more than 60 points but is 1–6 when scoring less than 60 points.

“Obviously we’ve handled some adversity, and sometimes it’s been good and sometimes not,” Aston said. “I’m really pleased with the team.”

The Longhorns look to continue their momentum at home Wednesday against Kansas State.

Freshman guard Brooke McCarty had a career night in Texas’ loss to Oklahoma State. Despite losing four consecutive Big 12 games, the Longhorns are starting to see improvement

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Since conference season began, winning away from home has been a consistent problem for the Longhorns.

In six away Big 12 games this season, Texas has recorded six straight losses — and now Texas will travel to Lawrence, Kansas, on Saturday to try and find its first away conference victory against the Jayhawks.

The Longhorns shot nearly 47 percent from the field against Oklahoma State Wednesday, and converted seven field goals behind the arc. Despite a season-high 21 points from freshman guard Brooke McCarty and junior center Imani-McGee Stafford’s double-double, the Longhorns lacked a sense of urgency and fell short on the road once again.

“It was probably as good as we shot in a while, but we shot ourselves in the foot with all the turnovers,” head coach Karen Aston said.

After tallying 23 turnovers against Oklahoma State, Texas will try and limit the amount of times it gives up the ball Saturday. Aston said she believes many of these turnovers stem from the team’s inexperience.

“It’s all young players making some mistakes that they’ll learn from,” Aston said. “But, again, that’s not an excuse at all, because other teams have young players too.”

Since the start of conference play, several key players have stepped up for the Longhorns.

Sophomore center Kelsey Lang ranks second in the conference, shooting an average 58 percent per game, while freshman guard Ariel Atkins leads the team with 82 percent shooting from the free throw line. She also averages nearly 10 points per game.

Despite an injury to sophomore forward Nekia Jones and the loss of senior forward Nneka Enemkpali, the Longhorns still possess depth on their bench, which has outscored opponents on an average of 25–14.

With two minutes remaining in the game, and down by 5 points, Texas found itself in a position to end its losing skid. But Baylor proved to be too much once again — and the Longhorns fell to the Bears for the second time this season, 70-68.

Three pointers from freshman guard Brooke McCarty and junior guard Brady Sanders cut the deficit to 4 points in the waning minutes for Texas. After a missed Baylor field goal, sophomore guard Brianna Taylor’s mid-ranged jumper made it a 2-point game, and, with less than a minute remaining, Texas had the opportunity to tie, or even win. But Baylor forward Nina Davis blocked McCarty’s floater, and it was all over.

“It was a play that I felt like we were comfortable running,” head coach Karen Aston said. “I did think we could get to the next portion of the play, which would have been an odd ball with [sophomore center Kelsey Lang] coming out the setting one with [freshman guard Ariel Atkins], which would have gotten them in a two-man game.”

Sanders said she felt the failure of the last play.

“I missed Ariel coming off the screen, and I should have tried to definitely get it to her,” Sanders said. “But I shouldn’t have had that mistake.”

Sunday’s match is the 10th straight time the Bears defeated the Longhorns, who now sit at 4–7 in the Big 12. Baylor found holes in Texas 2–3 defense in both halves finding quality looks for 3-point shots and penetrating the lane. Aston said despite the team’s shortcomings, she felt encouraged by their performance.

“Obviously there are no moral victories in this game at all, but I’m pleased with the way we played the game today,” Aston said.” I think if we can build on this then we can get back on track.”

Lang picked up a double-double, scoring 20 points with 11 boards. Sanders led the team with six assists, joining double-digits club with 14 points, and Taylor ended with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Junior guard Empress Davenport returned to action and played 22 minutes with 2 points, but ultimately fouled out. She had missed the last two games after injuring her right shoulder.

Despite the loss, Aston said she felt this was the first game where the team was ready to move forward from the adversity it has faced this season. Lang also said she thinks the team is starting to understand how to move forward without senior forward Nneka Enemkpali.

“No one person is going to fill what she was, because she was an amazing player,” Lang said. “But we are all starting to realize we need to take on a little part of her role. Hopefully that will help fill the void.”

Late in the second half against rival No. 24 Oklahoma Thursday night, No. 14 Texas once again found itself trying to pull out a late win.

With 13:49 left in the game, the Sooners held an 8-point lead, but the Longhorns erased the deficit on a 17-9 run to tie the game and send it into double overtime, in which they eventually prevailed 84-81.

Head coach Karen Aston said she thought the team’s resilience was intrinsic to its victory.

“Obviously we’ve been through some adversity the last couple of weeks,” head coach Karen Aston said. “I thought we didn’t let [the game] get away from a mental perspective. This team had fight in it tonight. They never showed any signs that they were down on themselves.”

The Longhorns (15-4, 4-4) did have a lot to feel down about in the month of January, finishing this month with an even .500 record. The Longhorns went 2-4 in a six game stretch in the middle of the month to push them four games out of the conference lead.

Moving into the latter half of the conference schedule, the Longhorns will work to prevent opponents from outscoring them in the second half. In eight games this month, the team has only outscored three opponents in the second half. In all of its losses, Texas was outproduced by a total of 143-108.

Aston said the team learned more from those losses than its wins.

“In the last couple of games that we lost, we had certain points where we can reflect back and say, ‘These are things that we need to learn from,’” Aston said. “And tonight we took those and didn’t make the same mistakes again, which I really thought was the difference [tonight].”

The Longhorns also saw injuries in January, which included senior forward Nneka Enemkpali, who is out for the season with a torn ACL. The injuries have pushed inexperienced players straight into the mix, making bench points critical for the Longhorns as they enter the latter half of the conference schedule. So far this season, Texas has averaged nearly 23 points per conference game off
the bench.

Aston said everyone had an equal part in Texas’ success over the Sooners on Thursday.

“I said all along from the very beginning this team has to be about [that],” Aston said. “This is by far one of the best team wins and team performances of the year.”

Junior center Imani McGee-Stafford, who scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, said she knows it is important to take every opportunity to claim a win.

“All of the older people remember freshman year, and we remember how losses can spin out of control,” McGee-Stafford said. “So we knew that we needed a win and get our confidence back up.”

Despite their struggles, the Longhorns will still look forward to the next few months. Freshman guard Ariel Atkins said she hopes the team will build momentum off the adversity they’ve faced.

“If you noticed, after everything that happened we huddled together," Atkins said. "That was our way to bring each other back into the focus and focus on the team goal."